The history of Projeto Pescar began in 1976, when businessman Geraldo Linck (1927-1998) witnessed the scene of a boy robbing an elderly man, and he was shocked to see the agility and vigor of the young man against the fragility of the victim, so he decided to do something to change that violent situation. Linck opened the doors of his company so that 15 young people in a social vulnerable situation could learn a profession. He set up a classroom and taught a course in Automotive Mechanics for young people selected in the communities around Linck S. A. The first Projeto Pescar Unit was established, at the time called “Escola Técnica Linck” (Linck Technical School). The results achieved with the first classes attracted the attention of socially responsible organizations and in 1988 Projeto Pescar started to be implemented in other companies.

Palácio do Comércio (Palace of Trade) The Palácio do Comércio is a historic building in Porto Alegre, one of the most important examples of art deco architecture in the city. The building began construction on October 12, 1937, when the cornerstone was laid, to be the headquarters of the Commercial Association of Porto Alegre, and was inaugurated on November 14, 1940 with the presence of President Getúlio Vargas. The design was by Joseph Franz Seraph Lutzenberger, who designed a monolithic block with eight floors plus a mezzanine, with very austere external decoration incorporated into the functional structure. The original design included four elevators - a luxury for the time - and the first central air-conditioning system installed in the state of Rio Grande do Sul.

The Associação Cristã de Moços (Young Men's Christian Association) of Rio Grande do Sul was founded more than 110 years ago and is an ecumenical, philanthropic, social assistance, and non-profit educational institution that congregates people without distinction based race, social position, religious or political beliefs. It develops its work in the areas of sports, leisure, education, social development, leadership, and volunteering, always in order to generate and multiply resources so that thousands of people can have decent access to opportunities.

Established in 2007, Instituto Olga Kós de Inclusão Cultural (IOK) is a Civil Society Organization of Public Interest (OSCIP, an official designation of the Brazilian government for certain NGOs) that works with children and adults with intellectual disabilities in the city of São Paulo, especially people with Down Syndrome. The institute's primary goal is the social and cultural inclusion of the intellectually disabled. To that end, IOK promotes arts and sports projects.

This philanthropic organization was established in 1939 by Dr. Déa Coufal in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, to help children with poliomyelitis. Today, it provides free services to children and teenagers with multiple physical disabilities.

Irmandade da Santa Casa de Misericórdia de Porto Alegre is a nonprofit and philanthropic health care organization. A certified Teaching Hospital and city, state and federal publicity interest entity, the organization comprises seven hospitals gathered at a single complex. As an affiliate of the Brazilian Unified Health Care System (SUS, Sistema Único de Saúde), Santa Casa is one of the largest SUS service providers in the country, providing coverage for the whole state of Rio Grande do Sul.

Hospital Pequeno Príncipe is a nonprofit philanthropy, the largest in Brazil providing exclusively pediatric care for high- and medium-complexity cases in 32 specialties. The institution has a 95-year history of dedication to health care. Currently, it comprises three units: Hospital Pequeno Príncipe, Faculdades Pequeno Príncipe and Instituto de Pesquisa Pelé Pequeno Príncipe (a hospital, a college and a research institute, respectively). The organization allocates about seventy percent of its capacity to patients from the Brazilian Unified Health Care System (SUS, Sistema Único de Saúde). Every year, there are approximately 314,000 outpatient visits, over 24,000 hospitalizations, and 19,000 surgeries. Providing humanized and holistic health care, the hospital system also supports almost 17,000 family members accompanying children during their stays.

Doutores da Alegria is a nonprofit civil society organization promoting human relations and improving the experience of hospitalized patients by providing clown care, i.e., continuous visits from specially trained professional clowns, in São Paulo and Recife. Established by Wellington Nogueira in 1991, the NGO was inspired by the work of Clown Care Unit, the organization founded by Big Apple Circus director Michael Christensen. The NGO has made over half a million visits to hospitalized children, their caretakers and health care professionals. It works by focusing its audience on the healthy side of life, utilizing art in all its projects to enhance and expand relationships.

AACD was founded in 1950 by Dr. Renato da Costa Bomfim. Inspired by the technological advances he saw in rehabilitation centers abroad, Dr. Bomfim decided to establish something similar in Brazil. The association's activities include physical rehabilitation, professional training, support programs for the physically disabled and their family members and Paralympic sports projects, as well as the organization's full-fledged commitment to patient's social integration.

In 1991, pediatric oncologist Algemir Brunetto and journalist Lauro Quadros dreamed of a place where hope would turn into healing, chance into reality. Thus was born ICI-RS, the Rio Grande do Sul Children's Cancer Institute. The organization's structure and services are a benchmark for the provision of care to children and teenagers undergoing cancer treatment. Projeto Coragem para Sorrir (Courage to Smile Project) trains dental surgeons to provide dental care to pediatric oncology patients and to provide emotional and informational support for both parents and patients.

Hospital Angelina Caron was founded on October 8, 1982, the brainchild of pioneering entrepreneur Darvil José Caron, later followed by his two physician sons, Marco Antonio Caron and Pedro Ernesto Caron. The institution is named for D. Angelina Caron, the founder's mother, who dedicated her life to helping others and to social work. The same ideal cherished by its pioneers still guides the actions of Sociedade Hospitalar Angelina Caron: making an effective contribution to the health and welfare of people and thus improving quality of life. Its values and principles are firmly rooted in medical ethics, respect for people and sustainability. The hospital stands out for the high quality and credibility of its humanized health care.

In São Paulo back in the 1960s, the only hospital specializing in cancer treatment was in the capital, and the patients who came to Hospital São Judas de Barretos were mostly low-income pensioners with high rates of illiteracy. Seeking treatment in the capital was an enormous challenge: prospective patients lacked resources and were wary of big cities, while hospital beds were scarce and unpredictable. The goal of this project is to provide aid, emotional support, active listening, guidance and information to help maintain quality of life and relieve institutional stress for the caretakers of elderly patients at the hospital's hospice care unit (Hospital São Judas Tadeu).

Founded on June 19, 1898 by the Catholic priest Joaquim Cacique de Barros, Asilo Padre Cacique is a nonprofit NGO. Over time, the institution has changed and adapted to comply with Brazil's National Policy for the Elderly, giving shape to its work with people over 60. Asilo Padre Cacique currently houses 150 elderly men and women in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul. About 40 percent of them have no remaining relatives, which means they depend even more on their emotional bonds with the employees and volunteers who work at the institution.

Porto Verão Alegre, created by actors and directors Zé Victor Castiel and Rogerio Beretta, focuses on popularizing local theater in Rio Grande do Sul. Held during school vacations, it provides leisure and cultural opportunities for everybody who chooses not to head to the beach during the peak summer season. The project depends on sponsorships, tax breaks, corporate social responsibility and cultural marketing.

Fundação São Paulo maintains Pontifícia Universidade Católica, one of the largest university systems in Brazil. Agibank provides funding to one of its projects, “Health of the disabled in Freguesia do Ó/Brasilândia, São Paulo: dialog with services and meanings attributed by the population to the access to health care services.” The goal of the project is to identify and assess the availability and quality of care in order to support planning, management and professional training for the provision of services to a socially vulnerable population.

With the objective of preserving and disseminating the work of Iberê Camargo, the Foundation was created in October 1995, just over a year after the artist's death. In addition to bringing the public closer to what was one of the great names of Brazilian art in the 20th century, the Foundation seeks to encourage reflection on contemporary artistic production. It was an initiative conceived by Iberê's widow Maria Coussirat Camargo, who donated the full collection of works from over more than 50 years of marriage. More than half of all the production left by Iberê Camargo (about 7 thousand pieces) is today part of the institution's collection.The foundation was established in October 1995, one year after Iberê Camargo's death, with the goal of preserving and popularizing the artist's work. Besides bringing the work of a major 20th-century Brazilian artist to a wider audience, the foundation fosters debate about current artistic production. The foundation is the initiative of Maria Coussirat Camargo, Iberê's widow, who donated every piece of artwork the couple collected over more than 50 years of marriage. More than half of Iberê Camargo's work (approximately 7,000 items) is now part of the institute's collection.

The Casa do Artista Riograndense is a private, civil society non-profit that functions as a retreat for artists in need, who due to age or other serious reasons are unable to provide for themselves, giving them shelter, food and living conditions with dignity, within the entities means.Casa do Artista Riograndense is a civil society nonprofit that gives a home to artists in need, unable to provide for themselves in their old age or who find themselves in dire straits due to other serious conditions. As much as it can, the institution gives them shelter, food and better living conditions.

Sociedade Ginástica Porto Alegre (Porto Alegre Gymnastics Society) supports and develops athletes from various sports. Sogipa's facilities often host state championships, not to mention providing services to its countless members. Sogipa also hosts private social events, such as weddings and graduations.

The party atmosphere of this lively, spirited night run promotes an active lifestyle, self-care and sheer happiness, and inspires young people to practice sports.

Headquartered in Urece – Esporte e Cultura para Cegos (Sport and Culture for the Blind) is a nonprofit NGO that sponsors sports events for visually impaired people of all ages. The association uses high-performance sports to promote social inclusion, from athletes fighting for a spot in the national team to people who have just lost their sight and are currently in rehabilitation. Established in 2005, the organization is run by and for people with visual disabilities.

Vida Urgente (Urgent Life) is a collection of programs, projects and events to foster the preservation and value of life, using educational and cultural activities to mobilize society and change traffic into a safer, more humane direction. But Vida Urgente is much more than a traffic education campaign, it's a concept about the preservation and value of life.

With the motto “Here you learn how to win”, Instituto da Criança com Diabetes (Diabetic Children's Institute), a nonprofit private organization, works to provide services to patients based on the three pillars of Diabetes Education, treatment (with access to new technologies), and Social Work in its partial hospitalization, outpatient care and hotline systems. In Rio Grande do Sul, individuals, companies and society as a whole have become active participants in the institute's work, from building and furnishing its facilities starting in 2000 to financial donations, sponsorships and volunteering work in recent years.

Centro de Integração da Criança Especial (Integration Center for Special Needs Children) is a civil society social work organization active in the Porto Alegre metropolitan area since 1998. It provides special education and rehabilitation services to socially vulnerable children of all ages with moderate to severe multiple disabilities to foster social inclusion and access. The institution's trained staff and specialized infrastructure currently serve about 300 individuals aged 0 to 24.

Opus Promoções, well-respected among audiences, artists and producers for the quality and diversity of its events in four intense decades of work, is headquartered in Porto Alegre, but also manages nine major venues throughout Brazil: Teatro Bradesco and Teatro Opus (São Paulo), Teatro Bradesco Rio (Rio de Janeiro), Teatro do Bourbon Country and Auditório Araújo Vianna (Porto Alegre), Teatro Feevale (Novo Hamburgo), Teatro Riachuelo (Natal), Teatro RioMar Recife (Recife), and Teatro RioMar Fortaleza (Fortaleza).

Under the title Triângulo do Atlântico, the 11th Mercosul Visual Arts Biennial, under the curatorship of Alfons Hug and Paula Borghi, casts a critical eye on the triangle that has linked the fates of Europe, Africa and the Americas for over 500 years. Gathering circa 70 artists and art collectives, as well as special events at Quilombos (Brazilian maroon communities) in Porto Alegre and Pelotas, the exhibition will be held from April 6 through June 3 of 2018 at Museu de Arte do Rio Grande do Sul, Memorial do Rio Grande do Sul, Santander Cultural, Praça da Alfândega and Igreja Nossa Senhora das Dores, in downtown Porto Alegre.

The Porto Alegre Jazz Festival has become one the most important music festivals in Brazil. Both a critical and popular hit, the 2018 festival has further broadened its activities and enhances features widely acknowledged as both essential and outstanding. A growing public waits for POA Jazz Festival with bated breath every year, and the event never fails to engage the community of the city that welcomed it with open arms.

The Campus Party has been held in Brazil since 2008. It annually attracts geeks, entrepreneurs, gamers, scientists and many other creative types who come together to accompany hundreds of activities about Innovation, Science, Culture, the Digital Universe, and Entrepreneurship. Throughout the event, lectures, debates and workshops make Campus Party a unique experience: in this period, it becomes the main meeting point of the most important digital communities in the country. It is an ecosystem that allows visitors to interact, share knowledge, produce news, and follow the main trends of a universe where innovation is the key word, along with exchange and mutual learning.Campus Party has been held in Brazil since 2008. Every year, it brings together geeks, entrepreneurs, gamers, scientists and other creative types to take part in hundreds of activities involving Innovation, Science, Culture, the Digital World, and Entrepreneurship. The lectures, debates and workshops held throughout the event have made Campus Party a unique experience, turning into the main hub for one of the country's most important digital communities. The Campus Party ecosystem allows attendees to interact with each other, share knowledge, come up with new stuff and learn about major trends in a world where innovation, based on exchanges and mutual learning, is key.

Instituto Tênis believes in the potential of Brazilian tennis and invests in the dreams and determination of talented young players to put Brazil back at the top of the world rankings.

Project Lapidando Cidadãos (Molding Citizens) began in January of 2017, in the town of Vacaria, Rio Grande do Sul. Its primary goal is to use the practice of tennis to imbue core values in children and teenagers of all social class and to help develop the citizens of the future. The project currently serves 230 children and teenagers, but is expected to expand to 300 people in 2018. It provides classes, uniforms, and free tennis supplies to all participants.